23 July, 2019

Quilt Camp Wrap Up

I posted a week ago about the eager-beaver quilt camper that I had hanging out in the sewing room with me! A week ago-- where does all that flying time go? I am SEW very impressed by this young lady's enthusiasm and focus when it came to creating her very first quilt that I can hardly contain myself. She and I chatted earlier in the year about her wanting to learn and I agreed to help her get started. We all want to pass along the love of quilting to the next generation*; or, in this case, the generation after that! πŸ˜‰ At almost twelve years old this young lady definitely had in mind what she wanted to do; "make a quilt that she could put on her bed"; she arrived filled with the determination to see her vision through! As her quilt camp counselor I truly wanted her to succeed and decided that she needed a project large enough to be usable and small enough to finish, promoting a sense of accomplishment that might fuel her love of the art. We used the Accuquilt cutter and made quick work of cutting tumblers, enough (323 - 4" tumbler shapes) to make a quilt measuring 52" X 64".  She chose all of her fabrics from my stash, she likes bright colors and strong contrasts, no pastels for this girl! I taught her what I could and from there she worked tirelessly laying out all the pieces, creating her rows and assembling the top, hour after hour.
By Friday morning last week her quilt was layered and loaded onto Snowbird for quilting. She took a few passes following the pantograph, just to get a feel for the longarm, before we turned the machine on. She's a quick study and was done with the quilting portion by lunchtime!
This shot is worth 1,000 words!
She made her binding in the early afternoon and got that attached in short order.
She is shown here learning how to fold over and finish the binding by hand on the backside of the quilt. She's a natural.
I took this picture just before she left out the door to go home on Friday afternoon. She vowed to have her binding all finished and stitched down as soon as she could; "by the end of the weekend" she stated.
Her Dad sent this photograph from their home a few hours later; my heart swelled. Isn't this absolutely the very best we can hope for? For this quiltmaker I am not sure much else comes close. 
Yep, it's a WRAP!!
A quilter is born; I'm calling this Quilt Camp an unqualified success!

Life is Good!

* For what it's worth-- I've posted about this before, the subject of passing on quilt knowledge from one generation to another: When I began quilting I tried to learn every. single. thing. that I could from my quilting "fore-mothers". They were just as eager to pass along tips and techniques as those like myself were to learn. I found myself soaking in everything they could teach me like a dried out sponge in desperate search of moisture. This next generation, those the age of my children, seemingly need nothing from us. We are happy to teach, to give back as payment for all that we received; yet this "YouTube" generation have charted their own path, they're learning on their own and happily designing and creating by themselves. This makes me incredibly sad, on several levels, but the greatest might just be that very basic need to be needed. And, SEW it goes... thoughts?

11 comments:

julieQ said...

What a darling you are to teach her...your reward is that smile, at least a small part of it...her quilt is so darling!! GOOD JOB to both of you!

Quiltdivajulie said...

I tend to agree with your assessment about the “millennial” group. But their children seem hungry for human mentors. Kudos to you for giving of yourself to encourage others!

Quilting Babcia said...

You are doubly blessed, to have both a willing and eager learner and the ability to pass on what you've gleaned from your own foremothers. It seems there is one in every generation who craves that most special knowledge and connection with her own quilting foremothers and seeks it out. This sweet girl will not forget the week she spent with you and will undoubtedly love that quilt until it is beyond repair, a perfect life for any quilt in my humble opinion.

Mary in Peoria Handmade said...

She is so cool! You are a gem to teach her this life skill. Congrats to everyone.

rondiquilts said...

What a doll. Love her smiles. She has a talent and love now that will follow her all her life and bring her great joy and many friendships.

Rondi
rondiquilts@yahoo.com

jude's page said...

Well done on passing on your knowledge. I agree with your assessment of the next generation. The younger ones just seem to be too busy for creative pursuits, which is so sad.

Tanya said...

How wonderful! You are an inspiration knowing just what is right to spark enthusiasm in your quilting student. And I must say, the fabrics she chose (and that you had available) are so motivating! What a wonderful thing to watch a new quilter being born! I too just loved the photo that her father sent you! I hope you get another chance to work with this quilter and that this is the start of a lifetime of quilting for her!

Charleen said...

What a wonderful experience for both of you!! I can imagine how enjoyable camp was and her father's photo was icing on the cake!!

I'm going to show this to my oldest granddaughter when she is here next week. We do projects together but at almost 8 she's not quite ready for the full quilt experience. We'll put this on her list for a few years from now.

Frog Quilter said...

Sweet post. You have accomplished your goal of hooking in a new quilter. Congrats πŸΎπŸŽ‰πŸŽˆπŸŽŠ.

cityquilter grace said...

obviously you shine as a counselor...LOL! how wonderful for not only passing it on to this newbie but who knows how many beyond....a gift that keeps on giving...

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